Maya Lin
FOR YOUR CLASSROOM
CLASSROOM CONNECTION
» Maya Lin’s art is often inspired by
satellite images of landscape. Have
your students Google Earth familiar
locations (ie. home, school, stores,
etc.). Using the image they select,
they can discuss important landmarks
that cannot be viewed on the
satellite image.
» Maya Lin has used wood boards
to construct sculptures that mimic
topographical features. Instruct the
students to create hills and valleys
using books and/or other dimensional
materials in your classroom.
Maya Lin gained national recognition in 1981 when her design
for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial was selected from a national
competition. At the time, she was a 21-year-old architecture
student at Yale University.
Lin was born in 1959 in Athens, Ohio, to parents who immigrated from China in 1958i. Her mother and father
were both professors at Ohio university. Her mother taught English and her father taught art. Lin was a good
student who thrived on making good grades. She took college courses while attending high school and spent
her time creating at the University’s foundry before being accepted into Yale. Lin says of her childhood: “We
were a very insular little family. I really didn't socialize that much. I loved school. I studied like crazy. I was a
Class A nerd. My dad was Dean of Fine Arts at the university, and when I wasn't in school studying, I was taking
a lot of independent courses at the university. And if I wasn't doing that, I was casting bronzes in the school
foundry. I was basically using the university as a playground.”ii
Lin entered Yale with the intention of pursuing studies in field
zoology, but found the zoology program to be unsuitable for her
interests. She then determined to pursue studies in architecture.
”I loved logic, math, computer programming,” she explained. “I loved
systems and logic approaches. And so I just figured architecture is
this perfect combination. Then it takes me seven years of architecture
school to realize that I think like an artist. And even though I build
buildings and I pursue my architecture, I pursue it as an artist.”iii
“I'm interested in keeping the balance between the art and the
architecture. And I think that is the goal, to keep it up, to build,
make more works, see where I go with it, not lose one to the other.” iv
Lin’s work often focuses on humanity’s interaction with nature. “A strong respect and love for the land exists
throughout my work,” she said. “I cannot remember a time when I was not concerned with environmental issues
or when I did not feel humbled by the beauty of the natural world.”v
In the sculpture Silver Upper White River, Lin uses recycled silver to create the topographical lines of Arkansas’
famed White River. One may find familiar locales such as Beaver Lake on the far left of the sculpture, as well as
Lake Taneycomo, Bull Shoals Lake, and Table Rock Lake. The White River traverses a 722-mile journey from the
Boston Mountains in Northwest Arkansas, flowing northward into Missouri, before descending into the
Mississippi Delta region of Arkansas. The river was an important waterway for nineteenth-century settlers who
depended on it for transportation.vi
Lin chooses to use recycled silver for her river series because when Europeans originally arrived in the Americas,
there were so many fish in the streams that the reflections off of their backs gave rise to the term “running silver.”
Educator Programs are sponsored by
Neff and Scarlett Basore.
Maya Lin, Silver Upper White River, 2015,
recycled silver, 131 in. × 20ft. × 3/8 in.
i
nytimes.com/2006/11/05/nyregion/thecity/05maya.html
ii
achievement.org/autodoc/printmember/lin0int-1
iii
achievement.org/autodoc/printmember/lin0int-1
iv
achievement.org/autodoc/printmember/lin0int-1
v
Lin, M. (2000). Boundaries. New York, New York: Simon and Schuster.
vi
encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?search=1&entryID=2310